Tag Archives: home office

Weekend Reading: Your Home Office

By on March 1st, 2013

One of the biggest perks of freelancing is being able to work from home. And that often involves a home office of some kind — from a separate room to a corner of the kitchen table. This week we’re going to take a look at tips and examples of home offices for freelance writers, and tips on keeping that home office organized. If you’re still trying to figure out how to set your your ideal home office, check out these resources. You can read some of our own tips and see some of our offices in the related links below this collection. …

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Posted in Working From Home |

How to Furnish Your Home Office on a Budget

By on July 11th, 2012

When we work from home as freelancers, sometimes we don’t have much control over our work environment. For example, some writers work from their kitchen tables. A benefit of working in a pre-established area of the home is that you don’t have to worry about furnishing a separate office space. But what if you do have a freelance office, but not a huge budget to furnish it? No matter how big your home office is or how it’s laid out, there are plenty of ways to furnish it on a budget. My own office was furnished this way over the years, and …

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Posted in Finance, Working From Home |

Building the Perfect Freelance Office

By on January 19th, 2012

The environment I’m in influences the quality of my work, or at the very least how I feel about the work. For example, I can’t write in bed. I can’t sit with a laptop in bed and expect to create great things. I’d rather just sleep so long as I’m there. I need a real office space where I feel empowered and professional in order to run my business effectively.  For years I’ve struggled to find the place in my home where was going to create this perfect office set-up. Freelancing with Family Over the years I’ve tried any number …

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Posted in Work at Home Parents, Working From Home |

My Office Conundrum

By on July 7th, 2011

I just got finished laying engineering hardwood in the foyer and living room and there’s only one room left –my office/dining room/library. The front room of my house is having an identity crisis and frankly, it’s stressing me out. As a mom who works at home part of the time, I need to have my office in the middle of the madness. This means I can hear everything when I need to hear it – especially at night when little boys have bad dreams while mom’s working. I like to be on the ground floor of our two-story house so …

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Posted in Work at Home Parents, Working From Home |

Freelance Fitness: Use a Standing Desk

By on May 16th, 2010

This week’s Freelance Fitness post isn’t really about an exercise tip for freelancers, but it is about finding a way to burn more calories while you work. As freelance writers, we probably spend far too much time sitting on our arses in front of a computer, whether that be in our home office, in our favorite cafe, or even under a tree at the park. It comes with the territory. So why not do some, or all, of our work standing? It burns more calories. It keeps us from slouching at a desk (which for me at least can lead …

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Posted in Freelance Fitness |

10 Tips to Keep Your Desk Organised for Maximum Productivity

By on May 13th, 2010

The below post is a guest post from Tom Walker. It is easy to end up with a desk piled high with papers, coffee cups, family photos, out-of-date Dilbert calendars, tiny mascots and all manner of stuff. The usual excuse for out-of-control desks is that “a messy desk shows a creative mind.” Whilst that may be true, there is significant evidence that a work space that looks like a landfill is extremely counter-productive. A survey conducted in the UK by office products manufacturer Avery demonstrated that over half of the respondents couldn’t see their desks for the junk they kept …

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Posted in Productivity & Organization |

Freelance Fitness – Healthy Snack Ideas for the Home Office

By on April 18th, 2010

It’s Freelance Fitness time again, where we cover one workout idea and one nutrition-related idea each month for freelance writers working from home. This weekend it’s time to talk about food — healthy snacks to be exact. One of the hardest things for me as a freelancer trying to stay healthy and lose weight is the fact that convenience foods are, well, just too darn convenient. The phone and takeout menus are right there when I’m too caught up in work to want to cook. It’s easy to keep snacks like chips and pretzels around when you need to nosh. …

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Posted in Freelance Fitness |

How To Build A Home Office – The Desk

By on March 1st, 2010

When I first started freelancing, I realised that my productivity decreased if I were working from my laptop in a room where there were distractions of some sort. Whether it was the TV, radio, girlfriend or cats, I found that I was producing more work on a quicker basis when I was alone. So, mixing my passion for DIY with my need for a separate writing space, I decided to create my own office, starting with the desk. There are two things to note about this post: I wanted to build a desk that would fit into the corner of …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Business, Working From Home |

How to Take the Home Office Tax Deduction

By on January 18th, 2010

One of the reasons you decided to work freelance, whether part-time or full-time, is to have the chance to work from home. You may receive some tax benefits from having a home office. Read on to learn how can you take the home office deduction on your taxes. Home Office Deduction Rules First, the IRS requires you to use your home office “exclusively and regularly” as the primary place you do business or, if you have another office, you must use your home office to meet with clients to do business. Exclusive means you only use that space to do …

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Posted in Finance, Freelance Writing Business |

Pets in the Workplace

By on January 4th, 2010

I love my cats. I really do. But today I was reminded of why I don’t like having pets in my workplace. But first, here are the little brats: I converted about a third of my bedroom into an office years ago. I sleep in there for hours. I work in there for hours. I don’t let the cats in there. You know how cats can be — they hate closed doors. They sometimes sit outside the door scratching until I come out to play with them for a while (not sure what they’d do if I were actually out …

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Posted in Freelance Writing Business |